Health experts agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The health benefits of eating wholesome grains and fiber lead millions of adults and children to start their day by eating cereal with milk. However, a common problem arises in that the crispness of the cereal is extremely fleeting and one must eat quickly to enjoy the meal before it becomes soggy. In addition, eating quickly can lead to digestive disorders. Many cereal manufactures have tried to solve this problem by coating the cereal with additives to inhibit the absorption of liquids but this method often involves undesirable chemicals and sweeteners. Therefore, it is important to keep the cereal enticing and dry by maintaining it in a fresh, crisp state until it is mixed by the user in the user's desired leisurely timeframe and portion size. Until the present disclosure, no bowl has solved this problem in a simple, undivided, singular unit that is both child-friendly and naturally ergonomic by the means of a continual downward spiraling and sloping inner surface with an S-shaped guide rail.
Prior Art has offered many attempts to solve the problem of soggy cereal. All of these attempts involve either completely divided compartments, valves, sieves or multiple connecting parts leading to complicated use and/or disassembly for cleaning. For instance, one example of a bowl is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,538 and describes a cereal bowl with multiple partitions. One of these partitions completely divides the bowl into two compartments while the other partition divides the milk compartment into a general area and a mixing area the size of a spoon. Neither of these partitions touches both the milk and the cereal. Therefore, no actual mixing occurs without a user bringing the cereal from one compartment over the dividing wall and into the mixing area of the milk compartment. This is basically the same as using two separate bowls and requires a great deal of coordination.
As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,826 discloses a food bowl with a portion of the lower inside being depressed or indented. This allows for remaining bits of food to fall or be pushed into the bottom in order to capture every last bite. However, the design would clearly not keep two ingredients separate from each other mainly due to the fact that no divider or partition exists at all.
Still, other ideas have been described which include using separate pieces to contain the wet and dry ingredients. These solutions come with the additional burden of assembly, disassembly and additional cleaning requirements. Some have tried to solve the instant problem with different sieve type arrangements where the liquid could flow or drip into the solid ingredient. However, until the present disclosure, none have utilized the strategy of mixing the dry ingredient into the wet ingredient by means of a continuous downward spiraling and sloping inner surface and partial guide rail.
The following disclosure provides for a bowl which overcomes all of the foregoing problems with the associated prior art as well as other difficulties which have been known in the art for some time. Additionally, the presently disclosed bowl offers features and solutions that are not known and have never been suggested by prior art.